Apparatus for reclaiming solvent



20 1938- R. A. `HETZER l 2,140,623

APPARATUS FOR RELAIMING SOLVENT Original Filed June 18, 1930 INVENTOR RUSSELL A. HETZER Patented Dec. 20, 1938 APPARATUS Foa RECLAJMING soLvEN'r Russell A. Hetzer, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application June 18, 1930, Serial No. 462,061. Divided and this application April 3, '1935, Serial N0. 14,456 ,l

3 Claims. (Cl. 68-18) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE My invention relates'to dry cleaning systems which utilize a volatile'solvent as the detergent, and more particularly to an apparatus for removing the foreign matterI from the detergent after the treating operation, whereby the same detergent may be employed in subsequent operations. This application is a division of application Ser. No. 462,061, filed January 18, 1930 now y collecting vessel. In such systems it is desirable to repeatedly use the same solvent or detergent and to have it equally elective in each operation,

and consequently, means including a condenser.

is to provide improved means for regulating the supply of heating medium to the evaporator, depending upon the kamount of solvent which is to be vaporized. A further and more specific obf ject of my invention isA to provide improved means `for-controlling the action of .a motor to pump solvent from the collecting vessel or sump tank `when theliquid has attained a predetermined level, and means for regulating the amount of heat supplied to the evaporator.

`V My-invention will be better ,understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. lis afdiagrammatic view of my improved apparatus, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged diagram of the switch `and its operating parts.

As illustrated inthe ld'rawingpmy improved renovating apparatus is shown asy applied to a drum2. vThe washer is provided with conduits 3 washer or treating vessel or tub Iv which is. provided with the usual rotatable workcontaining and. lby means ofl which suitable apparatus may be connected to it for drying and deodorizing the fabric, as illustrated in my copending application. A storage tank 5 is mounted at a higher level than the treating vessel I and contains a supply of volatile liquid to be utilized in the treating operation. A conduit or pipe 6 connects the bottom of the storage tank` 5 with the treating compartment I and is provided with a valve 'I regulating the amount of treating medium which passes from the storage tank to the treating compartment.

To prevent any water or moisture which may collect and float on the surface of the treating medium from gravitating into the treating compartment I through the conduit 6, the conduit 6 extends into the tank and is provided with two branches 8 and 9. The branch 8 extends upwardly to a point above the level of the treating medium within the storage tank and the branch 9 is in the form of a 90 elbow having its lower end but slightly above the bottom of the tank I. The solvent which is supplied to the treating vessel through the conduit 6 will therefore always ow from the lowermost part of the storage tank. When valve 'I is open for supplying solvent to the treating `compartment I, the treating medium will 'd drain from the storage tank 5 until it has reached a level which is slightly` below the point of connection of the branch 8 with the branch 9. At this point the flow of treating medium will stop. As the level of solvent inthe storage tank can never drop to the point of the opening of the branch 9, water or moisture floating on the surface of the treating medium will not be drained into the treating compartment.

A drain conduit I0 provided with a valve II leads from the bottom of the treating compartment I to the sump tank I2 located below the compartment. Filter means I2a are provided at the delivery end of theconduit I0 for separating particles of foreign matter.

In renovating the used treating material, it is rst drawn from the sump tank I2 by means of a pump I3. Theintake side of the pump is connected to the sump tank I2 by means of a conduit I4 which is provided with a branch conduit I5 controlled by a valve I6. Conduit I5 termi nates in a free end to provide a pipe or hose connection. 'I'he conduit I4 is also provided with va control valve I'I for regulating the flow cf medium from the sump tank I2 t'o and through vthe pump I3. The valve I'l ls normally open and the valve I6 is normally closed. However, when a fresh supply of treating medium from some outside source is to be supplied to the apparatus, the

valve Il is closed and the valve I6 is opened at which time a pipe or hose may be attached to the pipe 'connection I5 and .a fresh supply of medium may be drawn into the apparatus by the operation of the pump I3.

As illustrated in the drawing, the portion of the Y vpipe 'Id extending within the sump tank 'terminates in a vertically extending `T-connection, the upper end I8 of which is adjacent the top of thel sump tank and the lower end I9 of which is adjacent the bottom thereof. By utilizing a l1-connection of this type the solvent may be withdrawn from the sump tank adjacent the bottom thereof and means are also provided for maintainingv a minimum amount of solvent in the sump tank, the amount being determined by the point Where the conduit It joins conduits I8 vand E9. v

As a first step in the circulation of the treat-.-

ing medium from the sump tank I2 the medium is passed into alte'r 20- by way of a conduit 2l leading from the discharge side of the pump I3, the conduit being controlled by the valve 22. A

. pipe or conduit 23 under control of valve 24 leads from conduit 2l vand terminates in a pipe or hose connection. Normally when the apparatus is in operation valve/2B is closedand valve 22 is open. However, if for any reason it is necessary to empty the system of the treating medium, the valve 22 is closed, the valve 2d is opened and a suitable hose or pipe is attached to the connection 23, whereby the solvent may be discharged from the system.

The filter 2Ilcomprises a cylindrical outer shell 25 and a lter bag 26. Conduits 21, 28 controlled by valves 29 and -30 connect the exterior and inner portion of the filter with the sump tank through the conduit I4. Means are thereby provided for y draining the lter when necessary or desirable.

A pipe or conduit 3| connects the filter to a main evaporator 32 and a branch pipe-33 under control of a valve 34 connectsthe lter shell with the storage tank 5 through a portion of the It will be noted that by such an arrangement the solvent may be recovered from the sludge without discontinuing evaporation in the main vaporizer. A conduit 61 controlled by valve 68 is provided for draining the sludge from the auxiliary evaporator after substantially all of the solvent has been removed.

'I'he vapors from evaporators 32 and 36 are passed to condenser 39 through conduits 40 and 4l and the condensate ows through conduit 42,

lter 43 and conduit 44 into the storage tank.

Conduits 45 and 46 are provided for circulating a suitable cooling uid through the condenser.

In accordance with my invention I have provided automatic means for controlling the operation of the motor 48 which controls the :action of pump I3 when the level of the liquid in the sump or collecting tank l2 attains a predetermined level and also means for controlling the supply of heating medium to theyevaporatorsz so that the evaporating process may be expedited after the evaporators have been supplied with a fresh quantity oi. the solvent to be vaporized.

As illustrated in the drawing, current is supplied to the motor from lines LI and L2 which are controlled by switch 5D. Steam is supplied toevaporators 32 and 36 by a main supply pipe 52 which is controlled by valve 53. Switch 50 preferably is any suitable form of snap switch capable of oat control. As conventionally illustrated, the switch includes a switch arm 5I biased in either open or closed position by a spring 62 and having an operating arm 63 actuated by lugs 5d on a rod 55 connected to a oat 56 which rests upon the surface of the liquid inthe sump tank l2. The rod 55 extends through an aperture vin the top .of the tank I2 and is also providedwith a pair of spaced lugsl 5l and 58 which operate the handle 59 of' valve 53. When the level in the sump tank I2 falls a predetermined amount the switch opens and when the level of-liquid in the sump tank rises to a predetermined level the switch closes. lAfter a predetermined amount of solvent has been forced into the evaporator the lug 58 opens the valve 53 to supply heating medium to evaporators 32 and 36 through supply pipe 52 and branch pipes 60 and 6I As the sump lls up, reverse operations of switch 5U and valve 53 are produced.

The operation of my improved apparatus will now be apparent. The liquid is rst drained from the treating vessel l into the sump tank I2. After a predetermined amount of solvent has collected in the sump tank the float 43 which rises with the liquid closes-the switch 50. 'Ihe closing of switch 50 supplies current to motor 48 which operates pump I3, thereby forcing liquid into the main evaporator 32 and by operating valve 38 solvent containing sludge is drained into auxiliaryV evaporator 36. As the level of the liquid in tank I2 falls the lug 58 engages handle 59 of valve 53 and heating uid, such as steam, is supplied to the evaporators 32 and 36 through main conduit 52 and branch conduits 66 and 6I. solvent rises in the tank, however, the lug 5l again makes contact with-handle 59 of valve 53 Asthe and the supply of steam is diminished or entirely cut o. It will'be understood that in accordance with my invention a small amount of steam may be continuously supplied to the evaporators 32 and 36 and that when a fresh supply of. solvent is pumped into the evaporators the supply of steam which is utilized to evaporate the solvent 2,140,623 is intermittently supplied, an evaporator, said sump tank and evaporator forming a closed circuit with a condenser and treating vessel, means for conducting solvent from said sump tank to said evaporator, means for forcing solvent through said conducting means from said sump Y tank to said evaporator, means for supplying heat to said evaporator, means responsive to the fall of liquid in said sump tank to a predetermined.

level for increasing the supply of heat to said evaporator, and means responsive to the rise of liquid in said sump tank to a predetermined level for decreasing the supply of heat to said evaporator, whereby the supply of heat to said evaporator is accommodated to the supply of solvent thereto.

2. An apparatus Afor reclaiming used solvent,

comprising a sump tank to which the used sclvent is intermittently supplied, an evaporator, said sump tank and evaporator forming a closed circuit with a` condenser and treating vessel, means for conducting solvent from said sump tank to said evaporator, means for supplying heat to said evaporator, means responsive to the rise of liquidi in said sump tank to a predetermined level forfsimultaneously forcing solvent through said conducting means from the sump tank to the evaporator and for also decreasing the supply of heat to said evaporator, and means responsive to the fall of solvent in said sump tank to a predetermined level for simultaneously rendering the solvent forcing means ineective and increasing the supply of heat to said evaporator.

3. An apparatus for reclaiming used solvent, comprising-a sump tank to which the used solvent' is intermittently supplied, an evaporator, said sump tank and evaporator forming a closed circuit vwith a condenser and treating vessel, means for conducting solvent from said sump tank to said evaporator, means for supplying heat to said evaporator, pump means for forcing solvent through said conducting means from said sump tank to said evaporator, a motor for said pump, means responsive to the rise of liquid in said sump tank to a predetermined level for simultaneously supplying current to said motor and for also decreasing the supply of heat to said evaporator, and means responsive to the fall of liquid in said sump tank to a predetermined level for simultaneously cutting o the supply of currentto said motor and increasing the supply of heat to said evaporator.

' RUSSELL A. Ha'xznn. 

